Sat 15th 
 We made it through the mad house that is Sydney traffic and found our way to Narrabeen on the North shore, just North of Manly. The Caravan Park is nice but at $47.00 a night not cheap. Still its close to the beach and the Manly Ferry.

Its nice to be in a Park as you can get all the washing and other domestic chores done when you are connected to power and water.

SUN 16th   Anyhow Sunday Morning we met up with Grant in Manly and had the Morning with him before heading into Sydney on the Manly Ferry.

Of course Sydney Harbour is not complete without a view of the Bridge and Opera House.

A double whammy with the bridge and Opera house in the same shot.
Went on the Ferry to Darling Harbour and had a walk around and a cup of Coffee with Grant.

Darling Harbour is a lot more developed than when we were there last and has quite a buzz with it.
The Powerhouse and Maritime Museum, the Imax theatre and lots of eateries.

On the way back to Manly we passed Luna park, all lit up and sparkly. On the way back we got stuck behind the Sea Princess as it made its way out to the heads then on to where ever the cruise was taking it. It nearly made us late for the last Bus to Narrabeen.

Mon 17th Packed up the van and headed North to a place called  "The Entrance" We stayed there last time and its a great Caravan park right on the water. The Weather forecast wasn't very good for the rest of the week so we have to make a decision as to what we want to do.

 No mistaking the way North. A very distinctive piece of road carved through solid rock in places.
Anyhow we managed to find the Caravan park again. We stayed there last time and loved the place.

We went for a walk to the beach once we had set up and saw the weather they said was on the way.

It gave us a lovely sunset though.

The front row stalls with the best view,costs more though!.

Tue 17th  Well they were right,it hosed down all day which made it a bit dicey on the highway. Lots of trucks,spray and traffic. All a bit nerve racking. We have decided if this carries on we will just make our way home quicker and head North earlier.

We carried on until !!--- That's for the next post folks.
Cheers Dave and Helen

Sat 14th.
Thought Sat morning would be a better time to get through Sydney, though on the radio they said a Triathalon was being held in town and some roads would be blocked, but as far as we could make out none that we wanted to use. The Harbour bridge was to be closed Sunday morning but we hoped to be well away from it by then.
Anyhow we headed North and went over the sea bridge which we had done before but going the other way.

This is the roadway built out over the sea, as where it was before, it was constantly being closed by rock falls. You can see to the left of the photo where the old road ran,just below the lower cliffs.

A great piece of engineering that solved the problem of road closures.
From here we connected up with the Princess Highway which took us straight into the middle of town, though nowhere near the closed roads thank goodness. It all gets a bit hectic from here as there are traffic lanes going all ways so its up to the Navigator to keep her eye on the GPS and tell me in advance, where to go. We skirted around the Airport and ended up at the harbour Tunnel.

From here it was the Submarine act as we dove under the Harbour. Now about this time the GPS normally stops working through lack of a signal, so when you get out the other side you haven't a clue where to go. Sound familiar Rob!! Anyhow our one kept going so we came out the other side with sighs of relief. We only had to do the one trip!!

About to do the dive under the Harbour. Time to hold your breath!! Look at the lanes to chose from when you get out the other end. You don't want the GPS to crash now.

Half way through and all that water up there!!
Anyhow we made it through and on to Narrabeen, just North of Manly and apart from a little detour up and down a hill, the GPS was having a bit of a joke with us, we found and booked into the caravan Park.
Tomorrow we meet up with Grant in Sydney and spend the day with him. But that's for the next installment.
Bye for now Dave and Helen.

13 th April  Black Friday!!  Not really the day to be on the road but hey who's superstitious. We headed away from our roadside stop and headed North again this time to a little camping ground at the Coledale Surf club. We found this last trip and its a great spot on the beach and its cheap!

A spot of truck surfing along the way,great for the economy!

Passed through a nice little town called Mossvale,all trees and quaint buildings.
On our way we encountered the Illawara Highway which started out great but as we came down the escarpment to sea level it got a bit dodgy. Hairpin bends,one 180deg,just as well there was nothing coming up as I had to use both sides of the road to get around. very scenic though when i had time to look.

Then we got to Coledale beach. We found this last trip,belongs to the local Surf Club,great beach,cheap and not too crowded. About 20 vans all up.

I tried to get a good shot of Helen on the beach. Just move over by that rock a bit,nearer the edge please.

She did the same with me.

Thats all for now,on to Sydney and all the traffic and stress tomorrow.
Cheers Helen and David.

Wed 11th April   Well the time has come to hit the road North and head for the warmer weather. Lots of tears and hugs and last cuddles of the baby and we were on the way.

The van was packed bikes on and away we went.

We had a nice exit from Melbourne through the Yarra valley (Grapes,wine etc) though we didn't bother to stop then out through the Goulburn Valley (Fruit etc)  to the Hume Highway and North.
Had a nice easy trip,very little wind,warm sunny day so it made it easy driving.
We stopped for the night at a roadside lay bye just North of Albury. Quite a nice stop away from the Highway, you could still here the Trucks going through but we managed a good nights sleep. That is untill morning when the temps had dropped to 4 deg. very hard to get out of bed though the sun on the side of the van warmed it up a bit.

Headed away again and stopped at Gundagye for some shopping at the local Woollies to stock up on food etc. You could see in many places around town where the floods had gone through and
just out of town you could see Autumn is not far off.

 The Poplars just starting to turn yellow.
We had a good trip onwards doing a bit of Truck surfing!! It consists of travelling along at around 90 to 95 kmh and let the big trucks creep up and pass. They are normally limited to 100kph and then tuck in behind in the slipstream and get a free tow. The fuel consumption lowers quite considerably and you are going faster as well. With the Hume being double lane its quite easy and we covered a lot of Ks and saved a bit of fuel as well. Cuts the boredom down a bit!!
 Tonight we are just South of Goulburn NSW in another lay bye but a bit closer to the Highway so it will be a bit noisier this time. The temps have plummeted below 10deg so it off to bed to keep warm.

 Bye for now
Dave and Helen

Easter Sat.  What to do on a long weekend when in Melbourne? Go to the Victoria markets of course. We managed to negotiate the public transport system in Melb and found our way from Ringwood station into the city and Central station. From there it wasn't so easy as the GPS didn't want to know about Markets or their where abouts. So we had to ask and found we were going in the wrong direction,not far luckily. Anyhow we found them and spent a pleasant 2 hours roaming around checking out all the stalls and having a nice home made Pizza for lunch.

The markets if you haven't been there are right in the middle of town and are in what looks like an old cattle sale yard under cover.

All sorts of gear for sale here. If you want leather stuff,baby clothes, cheap watches etc its all here. Reminded me of the night markets in Hong Kong. Manned by the same sort of people as well.
We managed to find our way home again so that was a bit of a miracle as well

10th April
The boys wanted to have a night in the Caravan with Nana and Grandad before we left to go home so on Monday night we set up the bed for them and we had a party. A few games of cards first which the oldies lost most of, especially the ones requiring a good memory!

A couple of card sharps about to fleece their Grandparents. After chips and soft drink it was off to bed on the modified table that Grandad had arranged for just such an occasion. The table was lowered down to the level of the cushions using a short tube and a couple of supports put underneath. Using the cushions from the back it made a comfy double bed. I think it was comfy but then  I didn't have to sleep on it!!

Well tomorrow we bid farewell to Melbourne and head North to warmer parts (we hope) and plan to be in Sydney on Sunday 15th to meet up with Grant who flies in for the day.
Till next time,some where by the side of the road probably.
Cheers Helen and David

7th April  Well its about time I added some more to the blog I suppose,so here goes.
We travelled to Hastings on the Mornington Peninsular to catch up with friends of ours, Helen and Brian Hammond. When I was with Caterpillar in NZ I used to consult with Brian on a regular basis and have remained friends ever since. We did a trip around the Western Port area with them, which is on the Eastern side of the peninsular, the Philip Island side and had a nice day.

David with Helen and Brian Hammond at Warneet North Jetty. We ducked in and out of the little beaches and inlets and ended up at the Tooradin Airfield where we had lunch.

A lovely little airport looking out over the bay with a few interesting aircraft in residence. A nice lunch was had by all, then it was back home to the Hammond's, dropping in to a few more Marinas on the way.

The next day the Hammond's had an appointment so we headed off on our own for a tour of the Mornington Peninsular. First stop was Balnarring Beach. Not quite the quality of the Sunshine Coast but nice all the same.

From there we drove across to Rosebud and Rye on the Eastern (Port Phillip Bay) side of the peninsular and had a walk down the Beach at Rye.

Helen is trying the water temp but wasn't tempted,a bit too cold for swimming. You will notice the Jeans and warm clothes, Autumn is definitely in the air down here. We had a sit on the beach in the Sun until it disappeared behind a cloud of smoke.

The smoke from a bushfire some where gave the bay an eerie light and turned it to gold.

We came back to Melbourne on the Thursday and the following day being warm and Sunny again went to the Ringwood lake reserve with some of the family. A nice sheltered place but quite busy on Easter Friday.

Here the Kids are trying to catch leaves from the trees as they fall. Autumn is well on the way.

Even the big kids were joining in
.

Well thats enough for one night.
Cheers Helen and Dave

30th March  The day started bright and sunny so it was decided we would do the Puffing Billy up in the Dandenongs. the kids were loaded in the Van and away we went.

We arrived with plenty of time to look around and take a few pictures. for you Train buffs here are a few.

A nice old Station though not as old as it looks. A nice rake of carriages as well.

A nice American designed (Baldwin I suspect) Australian built Tank loco all fired up and ready to go. The line opened in 1900 so they are over a hundred year old.

All connected and ready to go. It ran from Belmont to Emerald Lakeside today.

It looks like something out of India with people sitting on the edge with their legs hanging out in the breeze. This all changed when it started to rain. It didn't last long and it was back to normal again.
A lovely trip up through the landscape of the Dandenongs.

At the end of the trip we met the train going back down. Same type of Loco but different carriages.
We only went one way so Deb met us at the top in the van and we came back by car.
A nice day out with everybody enjoyed by all.

1st April.  decided that Helen and i would go and have a look at Kinglake and Healsville where the big fires were.
We headed up to Kinglake and soon came across signs of the fire though the new foliage was well on the way to covering it up.

We got to Kinglake via a narrow winding road with a sign at the start saying there had been 265 motorcycle accidents on this stretch of road last year. Half way up we had to give way to an Ambulance on its way to some emergency. At Kinglake the rescue Helicopter flew over  and
as we headed on our way to Healsville, just out of town we were stopped and told there was a double fatality 2 M/cycles and a car on the road ahead and the road was blocked. Explained the Ambulance and Helicopter,so we turned around and retraced our steps back home.
Thats it for now. Regards Helen and Dave